Washing-machine.



WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1 903. N0 MODEL.

[a0 2 Z 29 52 26 2725 2021 o. 50- l I I Wifgesszs la I Patented April 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM CLEVELAND LO'IT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

. wAsHlNe-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATIN forming part of Letters Patent v`1\To. 756,253, dated April 5, 1904. l

Application iiled September 19, 1903. l Serial No. 173,862. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.n

Be it known that I, WILLIAM CLEVELAND LOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Washing-Machine, of which'the following is a specification. Y

My invention relates to washing-machines, and has for its object to produce a device of this character of comparatively simple construction which will be efficient in operation and one in which the clothes will be subjected to the combined action of suds and steam, thus being thoroughly cleansed and bleached.

To these ends the invention comprises the novel details of construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side sectional elevation of my improved device, partly broken away to expose the interior mechanism to view. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the operating device.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the body of the machine, preferably in the form of a cylindrical sheet-metal vessel or boiler,

4having at one side adjacent to its top a perforated ear or bearing 2 and at a point oppos'ite the ear a spring-catch 3, the boiler being provided with a pair of oppositely-disposed handles 4.

5 indicates an inner steam-condensing member comprising a dome-shaped base 6 and a central vertical conical tube 7, communicating at its lower end with a steam-chamber 8,formed between the base 6 and the bottom of the tank. The base 6, which is provided on its upper face with a series of radiating ribs or projections 9, substantially covers' the bottom of the tank and has a peripheral depending ange 10, perforated, as at 11, and an upwardly and outwardly iiaring peripheral flange 12, provided upon its inner face with ribs or projections 13.

14 designates a rotary agitator, preferably in the form of a bell-shaped cap or shield, seated centrally over the upper open end of the tube 7 and havingk a series of depending clothes-'engaging arms'or ngers 15, which continue upward along the outer face of the agitator to form ribs or projections 16 thereon. The agitator 14 is fixed to the lower end of a verticalshaft 17, which extends centrally through the lidor cover 18 of the boiler and has suitable bearing for rotation therein, there being fixed upon the upper end of the shaft a horizontal spur-gear 19.

The cover 18, which normally ts snugly and tightly upon the tank or boiler, has arising vertically therefrom a pair of spaced open bearing ears or members 20, disposed one on either side of the gear 19, these members being preferably formed upon a casting 21, which is riveted or otherwise secured to the cover, and has a pair of perforated ears 22, through which and the ear 2 extends a horizonal pintle for pivotally connecting the parts, whereby the cover may be raised at will to permit access to the boiler, the cover being normally maintained in its closed position by the springlatch 3.

Extending throughV the earsor bearings 2 0 and resting upon antifriction-rollers 23, pivoted therein, is a longitud inally-reciprocatory rack 24, having teeth 25, which engage the gear, said rack being guided in its movements and maintained in mesh with the gear-wheel by means of a vertical bearing-roller 26, journaled in a bearing 27, arising from the casting 21.

28 is a vertically-disposed arm, preferably formed integralv with the casting 21. This arm has journaled at its upper end a short rotary shaft 29, upon the opposite ends of which and at opposite sides of the arm is fixed a pair of wheels 30 31, the former of which carries a hand-crank 32, whereby the shaft may be manually rotated, and the latter carries an eccentrically-disposed wrist-pin 33, on which'is journaled one end of a link 34, pivotally connected at its opposite end to the rack 24.

In practice when the wheel ,31 is rotated it will through its connection with" the rack 24 reciprocate the latter and throughthe medium of gear 19 impart to the agitator 14 a reversible rotary motion,which will vthoroughly stir and agitate the clothes. During the agitation of the clothes theyV will be subjected to a rubbing action through contact IOO be worked back and forth through the fabric not only by the rubbing stirring action to which they are subjected, but also by the steam which will be generated in chamber 8, pass upward through tube 7, and be directed downward through the clothes by the agitator 14, a certain percentage of the steam also passing upward through the clothes from the perforations 11.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I produce a device of simple construction which in practice will efficiently perform its functions to the attainment of the ends in view. In this connectionit is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein set forth, inasmuch as various minor changes may be made therein Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isA 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a tank or boiler, of a steamcondensing member situated therein and comprising a dome-shaped. base and a vertical open-ended tube, a clothes-agitating device disposed over the upper end of the tube, and means for operating the same,

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a tank or boiler, of a steamcondensing member situated therein and comprising a dome-shaped base and a vertical open-ended tube, ribs or projections associated with the upper face of the base, a clothes-agitating device disposed over the upper end of combination with a tank or boiler, of a steamcondensing member situated therein and comprising a dome-shaped base and a vertical open-ended tube, ribs or projections associated with the upper face of the base, a clothes-agitating device disposed over the upper end of the tube, clothes-engaging ingers associated therewith and extended to form ribs or projections upon the face of the agitator, and means for operating the latter.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a tank or boiler, of a steamcondensing member situated therein and comprising a dome-shaped base and a vertical open-ended tube, an upwardly and outwardly extending peripheral iiange carried by the base, ribs or projections associated with the upper face of the latter and the inner face of the iange, a clothes-agitating device disposed over the upper end of the tube, clothes-engaging lingers associated therewith, and means for operating the agitator.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM CLEVELAND LOTT.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. GLETNE, J Aims M. WITHEROW. 

